HEART AND SOUL
by J7339
Summary: A WHAT HAPPENED NEXT STORY to one of the episodes. Lucas's and Dagwood's friendship has been shattered to almost beyond repair when the two of them are thrown together in a mishap and have to rely on each other to survive. UPDATED !!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Default Chapter

HEART AND SOUL   
  


This story is what I call a WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. I take an episode and add what I think 

would be the next logical sequence of events to occur after the credits have been shown. In this 

case the one during the Second Series where there are two Dagwood's.   
  


I have changed Wendy Smith to Kristen Westphalen and have taken it back to just before 

Commander Ford and Jim Brody arrive at the abandoned laboratory looking for the escaped 

Dagwood. I have changed the beginning so that it is actually Commander Ford and Brody who 

find out that their are two Dagwoods instead of it being Lucas from the show (all will be 

explained as I go hopefully).   
  


Lucas does not know that there are two Dagwoods and still thinks that it was his friend that 

forced him onto the motorcycle and then crashed it through the fence and left him bruised and 

battered on the ground. Commander Ford and Brody are unaware of the injured Lucas laying 

towards the back of the facility after being beaten up by the evil twin. (I changed where the 

motorcycle was seen from the episode).   
  


Hope you enjoy my interpretation.. and so the story continues...........................   
  


Dagwood had been walking along the road, being drawn to a place he didn't recognize, but 

something inside told him that he had been here before none the less.   
  


The building looked as though it had been deserted for a long time. There was long grass 

growing around the grounds and the whole place was now surrounded by a wire mesh fence.   
  


Dagwood reached the front door and saw the it was heavily padlocked and secured. He 

walked back down the front steps looking for an alternative entrance point. His head was 

telling him that the information he sought was somehow inside. 

Dagwood started walking along the side of the building looking for a rear entry. It was only 

upon going round the corner that he stumbled across Captain Bridger's motorcycle laying 

on the ground with smoke pouring out of the engine.   
  
  
  
  
  


He did not know about Lucas going and taking the Captain's motorcycle without permission 

hoping to get his friend to surrender himself to the authorities before something really bad 

happened.   
  


He walked towards a clump of long dying grass and spotted a figure lying on the ground. 

It took him less than a second to realize that it was his friend Lucas laying injured on the ground.   
  


Lucas had been knocked from the motorcycle when the evil twin Dagwood had recklessly 

driven it through the mesh fence. He had been knocked unconscious from the evil twin's 

assault on his body. Lucas tried to defend as many of the blows to his upper body as much 

as possible, but he was just not big enough or strong enough to ward off the powerful punches 

from the G.E.L.F.   
  


Lucas couldn't understand why his friend had turned on him so suddenly. He had thought that 

Dagwood was his friend. He had seen the confused man walking along the road and wanted him 

to give himself up before the police could find him. He had gotten off the motorcycle and tried 

to reason with the child-like man. But Dagwood had turned on him and literally lifted him off his 

feet and demanded that he take him home. Lucas didn't exactly know which home Dagwood was 

talking about and had tried again in vain to talk his friend around. This had only seemed to 

incense the big man even more and the helpless teenager found himself being painfully and 

unceremoniously dumped onto the seat of the motorcycle and told again in an angry voice to take 

him home.   
  


Now upon waking up with every muscle in his body hurting somewhere, he looked up at the 

shadow that fell over him and gasped out aloud in fright again. He thought it was Dagwood 

coming back to finish him off.   
  


He tried to get up, but the bike had landed on his foot when it fell and the ankle was now 

very swollen, possibly sprained. He couldn't stand, but every ounce of adrenaline in his body 

was working telling him to get away from this man before he hurt him again. He started to 

edge along the ground while still laying down, desperate to get away from his assailant.   
  


"LUCAS?" Dagwood now said worried that his friend was somehow injured and needed to 

be helped. He started to bend down as if to help the injured teenager.   
  
  
  
  
  


"NO...... NO STAY AWAY FROM ME" Lucas said as he still tried to get away. He was on the 

verge of tears at the thought of being hurt again by his so called friend.   
  


"LUCAS, SOMEBODY HURT LUCAS" Dagwood now asked wanting to right the wrong 

that had been done to his friend. If somebody had hurt his friend Lucas then they would answer 

to him. He didn't have any family or loyalties that normal people held dear, but when it came 

to Lucas, he was determined to protect his young friend, no matter what.   
  


"YOU HURT ME DAGWOOD, YOU ALMOST KILLED ME" Lucas said trying to stand on 

his injured ankle, only to have it collapse on him again and send shooting pains up his whole leg.   
  


"NO DAGWOOD NOT HURT LUCAS, LUCAS DAGWOOD FRIEND" the big man said 

but refrained from trying to help as he saw the frightened look on the boy's face.   
  


"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE DAGWOOD, LEAVE ME ALONE" the teenager cried turning 

himself on his stomach and trying to slither away from the threat into the long grass.   
  


"I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING PLACE" Dagwood said as he started to 

head towards the rear of the building again. This comment made Lucas stop his movements 

of escape as he tried to understand what Dagwood was talking about. One minute the man 

literally pounds him to a mashed potato, the next he sounds like the lost child that had first 

drawn Lucas to him. It was that same look of vulnerability on Dagwood's face that had 

Lucas thinking that the two of them had much more in common than first thought. That's 

why he had been able to openly accept the strange looking man more readily than most people.   
  


Lucas found himself dizzy again and unconsciousness soon threatened his senses again after 

the battering he had received. With Dagwood seemingly no longer a threat at the moment, he 

stopped trying to get away and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to wait for 

somebody to come and find him and help him before he could go too far from his current position.   
  


Lieutenant Tim O'Neill had just given Commander Jonathan Ford and his search party the 

co-ordinates to a weak signal that he was getting that indicated where Dagwood might be 

actually headed for.   
  
  
  


They raced along the road and then pulled up suddenly in front of an old abandoned 

laboratory and quickly got out to survey the area. Ford, Jim and Ortiz all had their 

weapons drawn and ready to fire, but they were set to stun as had been instructed by 

Captain Bridger. The other comment that Bridger had made was to use whatever 

force necessary to bring Dagwood back into custody.   
  


Ortiz grabbed a jimmy bar from the back of the U.E.O. transport and Ford and Brody 

made their way to the front of the building. Ortiz and Lonnie Anderson stayed with the 

vehicle and kept a look out. The search party had been told about Lucas's disappearance 

on the Captain's motorcycle and so were told to keep an eye out for the missing teenager 

as well.   
  


Inside the laboratory, Dagwood was making his way through the debris and the wrecked 

tables and desks in the building. He came across one room that seemed mostly to be still 

in tact. The tables and lab equipment was not broken and there seemed to be some ongoing 

experiments of some kind recently.   
  


Along the wall of this room, something very strange and interesting caught Dagwood's attention 

as he drew closer. Secured to the wall were about 10 Cryonically sealed chambers. There was 

no outside windows on the front of the capsules to see what was inside. Dagwood's curiosity 

got the better of him and he pushed the button on the first chamber that released the door with 

the expulsion of a gas and a hiss of the door ready to open.   
  


Dagwood cautiously opened the lid to the capsule and then stood back and look at what was 

inside. He continued to look at what was inside, confused at what he was seeing. It was a baby 

version of himself. The infant inside was just like him in every way except at a different level 

of development. Somehow somebody had made a clone of him. He moved to the second 

chamber and released it's door and looked inside. There he found another version of himself 

not a baby, but maybe a few years older.   
  


Dagwood was now astounded at what was before him. He moved from chamber to chamber 

and looked inside to see clones of himself at varying stages of development. He got to the last 

one and opened the door and now gazed in amazement to see that this version was an exact 

duplicate of himself, in development and age. It was as though he was looking in the mirror 

at himself. 

Before he could think too much more, the eyes of the clone in front of him opened his eyes 

and then the facial expression changed to a grimace as the clone came out of the chamber 

and took a swing at this alter ego.   
  


This was the same twin that had forced Lucas onto the motorcycle and then beaten him up 

outside the laboratory.   
  


The two powerful and equally matched G.E.L.F's started to fight each other. They threw 

punches at each other and tried to wrestle each other to the ground. Both of them were 

matched equally in size and strength so the battle was one of almost mammoth proportions.   
  


Commander Ford and Jim Brody heard the commotion as soon as they were able to break 

through the front door and that's where they headed to. Both of them couldn't believe 

their eyes when they saw the titanic tussle between the two Dagwoods.   
  


They watched the fight ensue for a little longer before realising that the evil one was getting 

the better of Dagwood.   
  


They both decided that now was a good time to lend a hand to their misjudged friend.   
  


Commander Ford grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and tried to get the evil Dagwood to 

release his grip on their friend by hitting him in the back with the fire extinguisher.   
  


Upon being struck with the red cannister, the evil Dagwood stopped his assault for a brief 

second and then picked up and threw the dark skinned Commander across the other side 

of the room.   
  


Commander Ford felt himself being lifted but was unable to stop his body being hurled 

across the other side of the room and knocking down a large shelving system on one of the 

desks on the other side of the room. He had a few bruises, but luckily managed to walk 

away with only a few minor scratches.   
  


Brody now took his turn and decided to take over where his commanding officer had left 

off. He too now tried raining assaults on the larger man in order for him to leave Dagwood 

alone.   
  
  
  


The evil Dagwood stopped yet again and turned to face his adversary. He picked the light 

weight of Jim Brody up but instead of throwing him across the room like Ford, he started 

to tighten his grip around Jim's exposed neck.   
  


Dagwood now stepped in and got his clone to release the struggling Jim Brody. A few 

spot fires that had been started with the fight between the two Dagwoods had begun to 

get larger. A few of them even intensified with the chemicals that had splashed on them 

when Ford knocked them off the shelves onto the laboratory floor.   
  


"Get out of here Commander Ford and Brody" Dagwood now yelled as he and his clone 

again began to wrestle each other. "Only Dagwood can help Dagwood. Leave now before 

this place gets too dangerous."   
  


Ford and Brody were reluctant to do this, but upon seeing some of the small explosions 

that were beginning to occur due to the Cryonic gasses that had escaped, they thought it 

wise to get out before the whole place blew up in their faces.   
  


The two of them ran out and gathered with the others in front of the others trying to catch 

their breath.   
  


"What happened in there?" Ortiz now asked the two men.   
  


"There's two Dagwoods" Ford answered finally. "One's the real Dagwood, the other must be 

the one who we saw kill Doctor Brown on the video".   
  


"Two Dagwoods" Lonnie Anderson now repeated in surprise at the revelation she had just 

been told.   
  


Back inside Dagwood had finally started to get the better of his opponent. He had seen 

his clone injure his two friends from the SeaQuest. His mind told him that this was the same 

person that had hurt Lucas. He know knew why Lucas thought it was he that had beaten 

him up and hurt him. The more he thought about his friend getting hurt by the clone, the angier 

and stronger he became.   
  
  
  
  
  


With one mighty shove, Dagwood now drove a staggering blow to the clone who stumbled back 

against one of the open Cryonic chambers. It was here were he would remain forever because 

when he fell backwards, he had become impaled on a sharp stake that protrude from the back of 

the chamber. The clone soon lost all the fight in him and looked back at Dagwood with unseeing 

eyes. He had been beaten and was dead.   
  


Dagwood could now hear all sorts of alarms and sirens going off in the building that indicated an 

eminent explosion due to the chemical melt downs that had taken place. He started to make 

his way towards the front door to escape the inferno that was quickly taking over the entire 

building.   
  


Outside, Ford and the rest of his party could also hear the sirens and alarms. Before they could 

react to see if Dagwood needed any further assistance, the whole place was engulfed in one 

huge explosion that rocked the very ground they all stood on.   
  


"Watch it" Brody yelled as he fought to maintain his balance as the pavement below him trembled 

with the effects of the explosion.   
  


As the debris and smoke started to clear they could see one of the Dagwood twins emerge from 

the flames and start to walk towards them.   
  


At this stage they had no idea which of the clones had one. Was this the read Dagwood walking 

towards them or was it the evil one who had murdered Doctor Brown?   
  


Once again weapons were raised and now aimed at the G.E.L.F. walking towards them all.   
  


"Hold it, which one are you?" Ford asked as he kept two hands on his weapon ready for the 

wrong answer.   
  


At first the G.E.L.F. didn't say anything he stopped where he was and looked at the four people 

standing in front of him and pointing guns at him.   
  


Then he held out his arm and pointed towards Lonnie before saying "Um, she taught me how 

to dance." he said with a smile.   
  
  
  


All four them now laughed slightly and lowered their guns and motioned for the big man to 

come over to them. They were all very happy that the right Dagwood had won and was 

back safe with them. At least they now knew the real story behind Doctor Brown's murder. 

Dagwood would be a free man again.   
  


They all prepared to get into the transport vehicle and start heading back towards the SeaQuest 

when Dagwood suddenly remembered his friend Lucas who was probably still laying hurt at 

the back of the building.   
  


"Have to go and get Lucas" Dagwood said as he started to get out of the vehicle again.   
  


"You know where Lucas is Dagwood?" Brody now asked with surprise.   
  


"Yes" Dagwood said and started to lead them all around to the back of the building.   
  


They all had been behind the G.E. L.F. as they walked around the corner, but they all quickly 

rushed forward of him at seeing the damaged and smoking motorcycle laying toppled on its 

side.   
  


Lonnie was the first to spot the injured and unconscious teenager laying on the ground 

and she rushed forward and knelt down beside him. Commander Ford did the same as he 

lightly slapped the boy's cheek to try and rouse him. At first the boy didn't respond and 

Ford started to look the injured teenager over to gauge all of the injuries.   
  


They were all shocked at the extent of bruising that they could see on the boy's handsome 

face. Lucas started to regain consciousness and groaned out loud as his ribs and torso 

protested at the movement. It was then that the crew realised that there were further injuries 

hidden underneath the boy's clothing.   
  


Ford turned his attention back to the waking teenager and tried to assess the best way to 

get him back to the SeaQuest and medical treatment.   
  


"Who did this to you Lucas?" Ortiz asked as he noted that the extent of injuries that were 

evident were not as a result of coming off the motorcycle.   
  
  
  


Just as he did this Lucas tried to focus his vision somewhat and look up at who was actually 

talking to him. The pain in is ankle had increased tenfold and his face contorted with the 

pain as he tried to sit up.   
  


Dagwood had moved into view behind the Cuban Ortiz and it was only upon seeing the 

large man come into frame that Lucas forgot all about his injuries and pain and tried to edge 

away from Dagwood again.   
  


Commander Ford could see the sudden agitation in the boy's demeanor and his desperate 

attempts to get away from their comforting grasp. They needed to try and keep him still to 

avoid the boy hurting himself any further.   
  


"Calm down Lucas, nobody here is going to hurt you. We are here to help you" Ford 

said trying to reassure the scared teenager and trying to keep a firm but gentle grasp on him 

at the same time.   
  


"He's the one that did this" Lucas blurted out and suddenly the efforts of trying to get up in 

such a hurry and the dizziness and constant pain became to much again and he fell back against 

the Commander in a dead faint again.   
  


HOPE YOU ARE INTRIGUED NOW!!!!!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. CHAPTER 2

**HEART AND SOUL   
  
**

Rather than try and rouse the unconscious teenager again, Ford and his party decided that the

best course of action was to move Lucas back to the SeaQuest and get him the medical attention

he obviously needed.   They would be able to sort out his fears once they were back on the boat.

Between them Brody and Commander Ford carefully lifted Lucas from the ground are carried him

over to the transport as Miguel and Lonnie led the way.   Once they were at the transport,  Ford told

Dagwood that it would be best if he sat in the front away from Lucas.  They didn't want the teenager

waking halfway through the trip back the boat and becoming agitated again.

Lucas was gently laid on the hard tray of the U.E.O.  transport and Lonnie offered to sit with him 

on the way back.   They left the motorcycle at the lab and promised to send a team back to collect

it once Lucas had been attended to.

During the trip back, Lucas moaned a couple of times but never really tried to reawaken for some

time.  Lonnie just sat with him and whispered words of comfort to the hurt teenager as best she could.

Captain Nathan Bridger arrived at the doorway just as the team pulled up in the transport.  He was

expecting some information about Dagwood and hoping to hear something about the missing teenager.

"Captain we found Lucas but we need Doctor Westphalen to take a look at him" Ford said.

"Lucas is hurt?" Bridger said as he felt his heart slam into the wall of his chest.   "Where is he?  What

happened to him?" 

"We'll explain everything as soon as we get Lucas seen to Captain" Ford said.  He knew that Lucas was

very dear to the Captain but he needed to be more worried about Lucas's injuries for the moment.

"We found Dagwood too Sir" Ford added.

Bridger's mind was too much in a whirl at what he had been just told.  He quickly followed the medical

team as they headed with the stretcher towards the U.E.O. vehicle.  Ford wanted for them to use a 

stretcher due to not knowing the full extent of the boy's injuries.   He had heard Lucas wince in pain every

time he took a breath back at the lab and suspected that there might be cracked or even broken ribs.

Bridger forced himself to remain still outside the vehicle as he let the medical team do their job and lift the

injured teenager from the vehicle.

As soon as the stretcher was free of the vehicle, Bridger was at Lucas's side trying to rouse the injured

boy.   He tried caressing the boy's bruised cheek to get a reaction but there was none.   He inwardly

tried to shut out the ugly bruises he could see on the boy's face.  By tomorrow morning there would

be even more and the present ones would be even darker.

Dagwood followed the rest of the crew onto the SeaQuest trying to see what they were doing to his

friend Lucas.

Lucas's stretcher was taken directly to Med Bay where Kristen had already been preparing for the team's

return from the Genuflect Lab.  She had been preparing the minute that they got the message from Brody's

team that they were returning with the injured teenager.  

"Lay him down on the table please gentlemen" Kristen said, trying to put aside her personal concern for Lucas

and keep her mind on treating his injuries first.   Once he was patched up she could worry about how this all

was going to affect him later on.

"Okay, Brody could you and Commander Ford help me transfer Lucas to the bed there first please, before you

leave" Kristen now asked.   Her eyes were busy looking over the prone teenager's body looking for the external

injuries and the not so obvious ones.

"On my call…." she ordered as they prepared to take a hold of the unconscious teenager and make him more

comfortable on the bed "One…..two…….three…..now" she said and Lucas never felt the three sets of hands that

proceeded to lift him from the stretcher and lay him now on the crisp white linen of the bed.

"He seemed to be holding his chest some while we were at the lab doctor" Ford now said, trying to give as much

information as he could about the injuries he was able to see on the teenager when he was conscious.  "He also said

his ankle was hurt." he added.  "I think his ankle got hurt when the bike rolled."

Kristen nodded her head in acknowledgement but secretly didn't want to really hear anything about Lucas being on

such a dangerous machine.   If she had known about it, she would have done everything in her power to prevent the

troubled teenager from riding off after Dagwood like he had.  Lord knows the teenager was not in a very good frame

of mind when he left.

"Where did these bruises come from Commander Ford?" Kristen now asked as she gently probed the purple and

darkening young skin on Lucas's cheek and jaw line.  

"Um, I don't know, they were already there when we found him behind the lab" Ford said doing everything he could

from coming out and directly saying what Lucas had accused Dagwood of.  

"I think you had better set up a meeting with the Captain and the senior crew so we can get to the bottom of this 

Commander" she said in a voice that didn't really believe a word he was saying.  She knew there was some reason

for him to be withholding whatever information Jonathan knew but she wasn't about to start a verbal argument in the

Med Bay and risk waking the injured teenager.

Captain Bridger had wanted to follow Lucas into the Med Bay, but for the moment was waiting outside the door watching

Piccolo who was busy pacing backwards and forwards.   His first thoughts were that the seaman was worried about his

room-mate.  But on closer inspection of Tony's facial features, it became obvious that there was more to the story.

Brody had refused to answer any of the Captain's questions and the rest of the rescue crew that had attended the 

laboratory including Lonnie, Miguel and Dagwood had quickly retreated to their own quarters before questions could be

asked.  There was definitely something amiss since they all got back and nobody would say anything.

Bridger still had no idea about how Lucas was involved in all of this and how he was found at the same facilities as Dagwood.

But something told him that the two were connected somehow.

Commander Ford exited the Med Bay after helping Doctor Westphalen and doing his best to avoid her own direct set

of questions.  He avoided the Captain's eyes as he left but mumbled about the meeting the doctor had suggested.  He hoped

enough had been said that he could escape the scrutiny of the Captain.

"What was that Commander?" Bridger now barked in a demanding voice. He was sick and tired of the games being played

out right before him.  He wanted to know what all the secrecy was about and he wanted to know now.

Ford sighed out loud and turned to face the Captain, knowing that the man was getting annoyed.  "Doctor Westphalen

suggested that you convene a meeting between the senior crew after she has finished patching up Lucas" he repeated.

"I think that's a very good idea Commander, don't you?" he said with his voice still sounding very less than impressed with

the brushing off he seemed to be getting from everybody aboard his own ship.

"Yes Sir" Ford answered, signalling his defeat and walking off to inform the rest of the reluctant crew that they were about

to explain what happened between Lucas and Dagwood back at the laboratory.

Bridger turned back from the departing Commander Ford to see Piccolo taking in everything that had just been said.  While

he looked to be happy about the meeting taking place to find out what happened, he knew that the senior crew didn't 

include him and he would still be none the wiser.   He was trying to show his disapproval about being left out of the meeting

to Bridger by his pacing backwards and forwards.

"Yes you can come to the meeting Tony" Bridger said in his annoyed voice and without waiting for any further invitation,

barged into the Med Bay to find out what he could about Lucas.  The rate he was going, Kristen would probably give him

the cold shoulder too and ignore him he grumbled as he pushed the door to the Med Bay opened and strode inside, clearly

in a huff.

As Bridger approached the bed Lucas was lying on, he was just in time to see the boy regain consciousness and try to 

wake himself up.  Kristen had been beside him, wiping his face with a cool, damp cloth, one to aid in waking him up, and

two to stop any further swelling from the injuries to his face.

Bridger inwardly winced at the bruises he saw on Lucas, but immediately drew his own conclusions that Lucas must have

sustained the injuries when he came off the motorcycle.  Ford had told him upon returning that he would organize somebody

to go back and pick up the damaged vehicle.  Bridger wasn't worried one bit about the motorcycle.  If he thought for one

minute he would have to make a choice between it and Lucas, the bike would be on the scrap heap before anybody could

blink.

"How is he?" Bridger addressed Kristen first.

Kristen smiled at Bridger's brand of going about things gently but answered his questions none the less, noting there was

some agitation to his voice "He got banged up somewhat from something." she answered truthfully.  "He's got some bruised,

and very tender ribs, but thankfully, they are not broken.  His left ankle is very swollen but only sprained.  Once I wrap

it he will need to keep off it and take it easy for a few days, possibly a week.  Other than that, most of bruises are

superficial and should clear within two weeks.  They will probably be all visible within a day or so.  He will need some

pain relievers to help, but other than that he seems to have been very lucky.

"Lucky" came the sarcastic response from Lucas on the bed at the description of his injuries.  "Didn't feel very lucky to

me" he said with bitterness and then proceeded to try and turn on his side to avoid both the doctor and the Captain.  He

was trying to hide from his own self-pity and depression after being beat up by the one person he thought would be his

friend.

"Oh your just saying that now, but in a few days you will start to feel yourself again" Kristen said, trying to reassure the

negative teenager.  She had no idea of what truth really lie behind the words he spoke.

"What would you know anyway?" he said, immediately regretting the harsh words, but knowing he couldn't take them

back.  

Kristen put his anger and negativity down to the pain he was feeling.  She ignored the words he accusation he fired back

at her and now handed him two white pain killers and a glass of water.   He looked at her with tears brimming in his eyes,

but then sighed allowed and swallowed them with the water, telling himself that nobody cared about what really happened

anyway.   He didn't know that the truth had yet to emerge about how he got the bruises on his face in the first place.

"He's just in some pain" Kristen said gently to Bridger.  Bridger was surprised at first at Lucas's reaction towards Kristen.

But then again after the responses he got from the rest of the crew, why not.  He was beginning to think something back

at the lab had robbed his normally tactful and intelligent crew of their real personalities and replaced them with people

who just looked like his crew.  Everybody was acting the complete opposite and Lucas seemed to be just following the

trend.

"I'm getting a headache" he said as he rubbed his temple and tried to work out the sudden changes in his crew.

Bridger and Kristen remained mostly quiet for the next half an hour as they watched the painkiller set in and Lucas fall

asleep.   Kristen was now able to wrap Lucas's injured ankle with causing him anymore unnecessary pain.

"Are you going to leave him here tonight Kristen?" Bridger asked in a whisper.

"I was going to, but despite the injuries, and given his current agitated state, I think it better if we moved him back to

your quarters so that he can be monitored during the night.  I'm certain the spare bed in your quarters will be much more

comfortable for him to sleep." Kristen answered.

Bridger nodded his head in agreement of Kristen's suggestion about Lucas's sleeping arrangements for the night.

It would be later on that afternoon before Lucas was settled in the Captain's quarters.  Tony and the Captain had been

able to move the sleeping teenager between them without waking him.  Given the boy's harrowing hours and the strength

of the pain killers, it would be a few more hours before he woke again.

With Lucas now taken care of, the thing foremost of everybody's mind was getting to the bottom of what happened at

the laboratory.  The senior crew was now assembled in the Ward Room as arranged with the addition of Seaman Piccolo.

Brody was a little annoyed that Tony had been allowed entry to the meeting, but given the Captain's current mood, he

wasn't about to voice his opinion out loud.

Bridger came into the room and saw everyone seated.  "Okay people, first things first.  I haven't been able to talk to

Lucas yet about what happened to him.  Someone please tell me who made those injuries on him." he asked in a quiet,

but controlled voice.  The tone wasn't about to take "don't know" for an answer.

Commander Ford knew that he would be put on the spot by the rest of the crew, being the senior officer, and so clearing

his throat he answered "Believe it or not Captain, Lucas told us back at the laboratory that Dagwood was the one who

did this to him".

They all waited for Bridger to take in what he had just heard.

"You can't be serious?" Captain Bridger answered, but looking from face to face before him for any sign of doubt.  There

was none, and all of them had expressions set hard enough for him to realise that they all believed what Ford was telling

him.

"I wish we were Captain, but we were all there when Lucas said it." Ford said. 

"Where is Dagwood now?" Bridger asked.  He had briefly seen the big man enter the SeaQuest when they returned, but

had not had the opportunity to talk to him as yet.  

"Commander Brody gave him some duties to do while we had this meeting" Ford now informed the Captain.   

"Maybe you should start at the beginning Commander" Bridger said, rubbing his temple again as his headache just got

a whole lot bigger.  

"Okay, well here goes" Ford started.  The rest of the senior crew sat back as Jonathan now gave the full version of 

events leading up to the laboratory and what transpired there and afterwards.  Bridger was told about there being two

Dagwoods, one good, one evil.  They told the Captain that it must have been the evil one who killed Doctor Brown on

the video.  He then went on to explain about the two Dagwoods fighting inside the laboratory.   

"We were just about to leave with the real Dagwood when he said he knew where Lucas was" Ford continued.  
 "Up until that point, we had not seen Lucas.   It must have been the second Dagwood that hurt Lucas for him to think

it was the real one" Ford surmised, telling Bridger about the teenager trying to get away when they found him beside the

toppled motorcycle.

"Does Lucas know about the second Dagwood?" Bridger asked, already knowing the answer to his own question.

"No, Captain, we haven't had a chance to tell him, but we need to do that as soon as he wakes up.   We can't go on

letting him think that the real Dagwood was responsible." Ford said.

"Well, at least all of this makes some sense now." Bridger said as he went back over what he had just been told in his

head.  "Lucas really needs to know the truth" he repeated.  He knew that Lucas and Dagwood had been close friends

and what sort thoughts in the boy's head must be doing to tarnish that relationship.   

With the meeting complete, it would be almost 10.00pm that night before Lucas was awake and alert enough to hear

the same story told by Captain, Kristen and Tony.   

At first the scepticism on his face was evident, but as the conversation continued, Lucas found himself believing some

of what he was being told.  

"I sorry you got hurt Lucas, but I hope this explains that Dagwood wasn't responsible for hurting you" Tony now said.

He so desperately wanted Lucas to forgive Dagwood.  The fact that he didn't kept eating at him and eating at him.

Two friends driven apart for no good reason at all except science gone wrong.   

"I believe you Tony, but when I close my eyes all I see is Dagwood's fist right before it smashed into my face" Lucas

said as he was sitting up on the spare bed in the Captain's quarters.  "You didn't see the eyes.  They were just full of

hate.   Hate towards me as he kept hitting me and hitting me.   He picked me up and threw me on the bike and forced

me to take him to that lab and when we got there we just rode right through the wire fence, crashing it were they found

me later on.  I thought he was going to kill me." Lucas said as he looked down at the sheets, trying not to look at the

others in the room.

"You get some more rest pal" Bridger now said as he helped settle Lucas back down on the bed "Hopefully everything

will seem clearer in the morning."

Lucas nodded his head, but it was only so they would leave the room.    He didn't want to close his eyes in sleep.  When

he closed his eyes, no matter who they said was the real one, he just kept seeing Dagwood's face.  He wanted to believe

it wasn't his friend, so badly, but it was really difficult to ignore the pain.

By the next day, the doubt was even more evident in Lucas's appearance.  He was restricted to short walks to get out

of the four walls of the Captain's quarters, but whenever he was in the corridors and various other parts of the ship, his

sense of paranoia made him keep turning around to see if Dagwood was lurking anywhere nearby.

On a couple of occasions, Lucas had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear anybody approach him and almost

fainted on the spot as he was tapped on the shoulder from behind.  His heart would set off racing and he would let out

a yell at the top of his voice, only to turn and see that it was one of the other crew just seeing if he was alright.  He had

wrenched his ankle twice doing that as his legs had told him to run at the time.  The pain quickly pulled him up before he

caused anymore damage.

Kristen had been rewrapping his foot when Dagwood had accidentally wandered into the Med Bay, attempting to complete

his daily tasks.   Lucas's mind had forgotten all he had been told and he almost fell off the bed in his haste to get away.

Lucas could only look on in sadness though as he came back to reality and saw the damage his reaction had caused in

his friend.  Dagwood would look sadly back towards Lucas, longing for the confidence and trust that was once something

between them.    Now there was only a sense of feeling scared and afraid every time he walked into a room.  The strength

that Lucas had once come to trust and know would protect him, now caused him to cringe and wonder if the same hand

would strike him again.

Lucas felt like a jerk once Dagwood had left and apologized for acting in such a way to Kristen.  Kristen told him it was

only natural, but deep down inside could only hope that things between them returned to normal as well.  Sooner rather

than later for both their sakes.

Tony was a little more direct when he saw such reactions in Dagwood and Lucas.   He also wasn't afraid to voice them,

just not to Dagwood or Lucas.  On the last occasion he marched off towards the Captain's quarters, ready to try a

different tactic.

"We have to do something Captain" Tony said with his voice raised.  He knew he was talking to his superior officer, but

at the moment the only concern was for two friends who should be spending time together, being driven apart by fear.

Bridger ignored Tony's lack of manners and understood what caused such loyalty in the man.  "I agree, do you have

any suggestions Piccolo?"

"As a matter of fact I do" Tony said with a grin that suggested the answer was a little bit out of the ordinary "But I think

we need the crew in on this as well.  Everybody except Dagwood and Lucas" Tony added.

"Okay, get everybody together and I will listen" he said.  Tony didn't wait for a second invitation and didn't even wait

to be dismissed before hurrying off towards the Bridge to tell everybody about the meeting.

About half an hour later, Bridger had made sure that Lucas and Dagwood were both doing something that wouldn't

cause them to interrupt the discussion about them.  Now he made his way to the Ward Room and the meeting.

"So Tony, tell me what this great idea of yours is?" Bridger said coming through the door.  Upon entering he saw the

same gathering of people that had been there yesterday to hear what had happened to Lucas.

"Well Sir, I think we have been going about this all wrong." Tony started.  Brody rolled his eyes at the man's speech

and knew that whatever Piccolo had in mind would be off the wall stuff. " Everybody has been tiptoeing around those

two, trying not to upset either of them.  I say to hell with it, we are trying to get them to talk to each other, let's just

do it.  Put them together and get them to talk to each other."

"And have Lucas run from the scene from fright again Tony?" Brody now responded, using the reaction of the last few

accidental meetings.  

"That's why we need to do it somewhere where he can't run" Tony retorted back.  "Not only in a place that neither of

them can get away, but without either of them knowing what they are supposed to be doing" Tony now said with a smirk.

He laughed out loud at the confused looks he now got from the people at the meeting.

"And just how do you propose to do that?" Bridger now spoke for the half a dozen others, asking the same valid question.

Tony took his time now to explain his idea.  There was a supply run due the next day.  It wasn't a huge load, but required

the use of one of the SeaQuest's shuttles.   All they needed to do was hide Dagwood aboard the impending shuttle to the

surface.   Tony would tell Lucas that he wanted the teenager to come along.  Once inside and ready to depart, Tony would

use some excuse to get off and send the shuttle on it's way on autopilot from the SeaQuest.   Once the shuttle was free

from SeaQuest, Dagwood could appear from his hiding place.  There was no where Lucas could run inside the shuttle, so

they would both be forced to sit down and talk to each other, thus rekindling the friendship so that by the time the shuttle

did dock back at the SeaQuest, everything would be back to normal again.

"And you actually dreamed up this idea Piccolo?" Brody said underneath his grin.  He didn't think for a moment that 

either Dagwood or Lucas would buy the idea.  Lucas would be hopping mad when he realised that he had been set adrift

in the shuttle on his own and then worse would be to come once Dagwood made himself known.

"Got any other ideas Jim?" Tony now shot back knowing full well that nobody at the table actually did.  They were all

afraid of hurting either Lucas's of Dagwood's feelings to say anything.

"I don't know whether I like this idea about Lucas piloting the shuttle on his own Tony" Bridger now voiced some genuine

concerns about the secret operation.  "He has only been recovering for a few days and still favours that ankle a bit" he said

trying to come up with valid reasons for not letting Lucas go without saying outright that he didn't like the idea.

"He won't be alone Cap" Tony answered back with confidence "He has Dagwood.  And besides, what could possibly

happen on the shuttle run anyway.  Nothing ever happens on those things" he replied, trying to work out the finer details of the 

trip in his head.  

END OF PART TWO 

WHAT COULD HAPPEN INDEED …………………  DON'T FORGET I'M WRITING THIS STORY.

OH BY THE WAY, TONY HASN'T MENTIONED THAT THE SHUTTLE HE PLANS TO SEND DAGWOOD

AND LUCAS ON IS THE INFAMOUS **MR-7 SHUTTLE.  NOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SHUTTLE**

LAST TIME IT WENT OUT WITH LUCAS IN IT…?????????????………….. 


	3. CHAPTER 3

**HEART AND SOUL   
  
**

PART THREE 

**Author's Notes:   I have changed the entire plot for this story.   The ending is still mostly the same as well as**

**the beginning but the middle part is completely different.    As you will see when you read on I am going to**

**introduce**** the character Frank Cobb into the story (the baddie from the gold-mining episode in Season 1).  **

**This would mean that he remained in jail after the Season 1 episode and not have been killed of in Kaitlyn **

**Rose's story.****    This story is written during the second series because of Dagwood but would only take **

**place**** about 2 years after the first season episode and my story.  This would put Lucas's age at about **

**18 years old.******

**Hope you enjoy the new storyline.**

 The next morning, Tony had his plan down pat.  There had been a lot of discussion the night before about how they

would try and persuade Lucas about going on the shuttle run up world.    The other crew members had talked about

doing this and doing that.   But at the end of the day Tony had assured them that the easier way was simplicity.

"Keep the plan simple and without any complications and it will work much better" he had told them with his usual

self-confident aura.  

Bridger and Piccolo had then painstakingly talked to Dagwood about hiding aboard the shuttle launch the next morning

before Lucas was up and around.  They explained to him the easiest way they could think of about why he was 

supposed to be hiding and what he was supposed to do once the shuttle was well and truly away from the SeaQuest.

The Captain had also told Dagwood about Lucas still being a bit apprehensive around him and that when it was time

to come out of his hiding place, to do it nice and slowly, without scaring or alarming the teenager any more than was

necessary.

About 8.00am the next morning, Lucas had awoken from quite a restful sleep.  He had spent a great deal of time

thinking about the last day or so before going to sleep.  He thought about the way he had been acting around Dagwood.

The images of Dagwood's saddened face kept coming up in his mind when he thought back to when he had tried

to run away from him in the Medbay the day before.   He was admonishing himself harshly and told himself that

he needed to stop being a baby and grow up a bit.   

Lucas was walking down the corridor towards the mess hall for breakfast thinking about finding Dagwood afterwards

and telling him about being sorry for acting so silly.   Tony now made his move to talk to Lucas about the shuttle run.

"Mornin' Luke" he said in a cheerful voice as he came up behind the teenager.

"Hi Tony" Lucas said in reply.  

"Got anything really exciting planned for today?" Tony asked as though it was just a question during casual conversation.

"Nope, not really.  I was just going to go over some programs in my room for a while." Lucas answered, leaving out

the part about finding Dagwood and talking to him.  "Why?" he now added with an air of suspicion.

"Oh nothing really.  Captain Bridger wants me to go on an urgent supply run up world and I just wanted to know if

you wanted to come that's all."

"Why did he ask you?" Lucas now asked, his suspicions aroused even more because Tony usually didn't make any

sort of supply run, urgent or not.

"Hey, I can't help it if the man thinks I am quality material" Tony said in his self-defence "He just asked me that's

all.  Besides he probably couldn't find anybody else to do it" he finally admitted.

"Now that sounds more like it Tony," Lucas said with amusement in his voice.   "Sure I don't have anything else

to do."

Inside Tony felt like jumping for joy that his plan was working but he couldn't afford to do that in the open and in

front of the kid and blow of whole thing.  "Great" he said calmly and walked away as though it was nothing special.

A little over an hour later, Lucas was standing outside the launch bay area with Tony and Captain Bridger.  Dagwood

was securely and secretly stowed away on the shuttle.  A few of the other crew members had wanted to be in 

the launch bay to see if Tony's plan was going to work but thought an audience might be a little bit of a give away

to the teenager.   Lucas wasn't somebody easily fooled and always had his guard up when he thought something

wasn't quite right.

"Behave yourself you two and make sure you come back on time" Bridger now warned in mock sternness.  Inside

he was beginning to have second thoughts about this whole idea.  

_What if it didn't work?__  What if Lucas and Dagwood didn't talk on the shuttle.  What if Lucas came back _

_so__ angry about being tricked and looked directly at him for an answer?   Bridger didn't think he could _

_face__ the teenager and bear to see disappointment or accusation in Lucas's eyes._

"How about I bring you back a souvenir?" Lucas said jokingly with a glint of mischief in his blue eyes.

"How about I not let you get away from here at all?" Bridger warned, not really being serious and hoping to hell

that Lucas didn't take his words literally.

"Okay, Okay, I get the picture, I am going" Lucas replied as he boarded the shuttle and waited for his friend

Tony to come inside.   

Tony got aboard and started the engines just like he would if he was really going on the trip.   He even played

around with the seat positioning so as to keep up appearances and keep Lucas nice and relaxed.  He knew

the teenager was going to be anything but relaxed in a few minutes.

"Oh damn it" Tony now said just before they closed the main doors to the launch.

"What?" Lucas asked as his friend's sudden outburst.

"I forgot something.  Just be a sec Luke" Tony said and then raced out the door to the shuttle before the teenager

could think of a response.

With the engines now gaining revs and getting louder and louder, Lucas was too busy playing around with the

controls on the main dash of the launch to hear the main door seal behind Tony as he left.   Lucas didn't get a 

chance to go in the launches too often and never as unsupervised as he was today with just he and Tony going

on the supply run.  He was competent enough to drive the shuttle on his own, but the crew just never let him

drive.  It was much like getting his license, everybody was too afraid for him to touch the wheel for fear of 

him going to fast or something stupid like that.

The thing that did make Lucas stop what he was doing and look up in confusion was the tell-tale shuffle that the

launch gave, signalling that it was moving.

"What the hell is going on?" Lucas shouted out.  He gazed down at the control panel he had been playing on and

noticed a control that was switched to "Autopilot".

The launch gave another shuffle and then seemed to move forward.   Lucas knew that the launch area was now

sealed off and flooding with seawater so that the launch could manoeuvre out of the door to SeaQuest out into 

the open ocean.

Lucas was know reaching for the communication link on the launch and shouting loudly into it "What the tell

is going on.  Tony?    Captain?"    There was silence for a few minutes.  Captain Bridger and Tony could hear

the teenager talking just fine, but they were afraid to talk into the radio and tell the truth until the next part of

Tony's plan was put into effect.   

With the launch now underway on it's own speed, the first phase was almost complete.   Even with Lucas's limited

experience of piloting the launch, he knew that the autopilot couldn't be over-ridden once the sea-doors were open.

He would have to wait until the detachment from SeaQuest was complete.  Angry or not if he tried to open the 

launch bay doors, all of that sea water would flood aboard the boat.  He wasn't quite prepared to do that to his

friends.

Another ten minutes and the launch was not operating on autopilot in the open ocean and headed towards the

surface.  Lucas was now talking back into the radio and threatening to turn the launch around if somebody didn't

tell him what was going on.

There was still nobody responding to Lucas's calls over the radio but his attention was quickly diverted by a voice

talking behind him.   He could hear somebody softly calling his name.

"Lucas?" Dagwood whispered again trying to alert the teenager to his hidden presence.

"Is that you Dagwood?" Lucas now asked the darkness, recognizing the distinct sound of the G.E.L.F's voice.

Dagwood now stepped out from the darkened corner in which he had been hiding and stood in full view of Lucas

in the launch.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, all of the time his mind going over the events of the morning, and the 

pieces of the puzzle starting to blend together to make a picture of what was really going on here.

"Um, Dagwood need to talk to Lucas" the child-like man now said.

"Let me guess, somebody else had a hand in this didn't they?  About hiding in the shuttle from me" Lucas now

asked already guessing that Tony was the culprit.

Dagwood simply nodded his affirmative answer.

"Somebody is going to have a lot to answer for when I get back to the boat" Lucas said, deliberately pushing the

button to the communication link from the launch to the SeaQuest so that a certain gilled friend could hear.

Lucas left the button pressed down so that the crew aboard could hear what was going on in the launch.

"Lucas not like Dagwood any more?" the man asked in a very meek voice.  He didn't quite have the skills to put

the questions together that he wanted to ask but the emotion Lucas could feel in the words had an effect on him.

He had been slightly angered when he guessed at Tony's underhanded tactics to try and get him and Dagwood to

talk.  He assumed that Captain Bridger and a number of other crew members had something to do with this little

excursion too.   But know looking at the bowed head and the forlorn expression on Dagwood's face, Lucas found

his anger dissipating very quickly and being replaced by guilt.

"No Lucas like Dagwood very much, but I keep seeing that other Dagwood's face and fist as it came to hit me.

I know everybody says that it wasn't you and deep down I know that to be true too.  I am sorry if I hurt you

Dag but I have been hurting inside too, thinking that you weren't my friend anymore.  That hurt more than any

physical pain I could have gotten." Lucas said trying to keep his composure as he spoke.

"Lucas need to look in here to find real Dagwood" the G.E.L.F. said as he placed his hand over his heart.

"Real Dagwood inside here not on outside.  Outside can be false."

"I know Dag.  Forgive me?" Lucas said still feeling overwhelmingly guilty.  He felt about one inch tall at the moment.

"No need to forgive Lucas.   Lucas Dagwood's friend.  Dagwood love Lucas" the man said and walked up

to the teenager and gave him a bear like hug.

"Lucas love Dagwood too" the teenager said as he patted the man on the back in great affection.  

In the background, the crew had gone up in woofs of laughter and clapping at the sound of the two friends making 

up.  They couldn't see the embrace that had taken place, but the words were enough to bring a small tear to most 

of their eyes.

"What do you say we go up world anyway Dag?" Lucas now suggested.  He knew the supply run was supposed to

be a decoy, but given the circumstances, he didn't see any good reason to head back to the boat in a hurry.  He

could take Dagwood with him up world to help with the supplies and they could have a great time together.

"See you when we get back Captain.  You and Tony still have a lot to answer for when we get back, but for now

Dagwood and I will complete the supply run." Lucas now said through the comm-link.

"You two still be careful Lucas" Bridger reminded the teenager but smiling that the two friends were now just that.

***************************************************************************************

About half an hour after the communication with the SeaQuest, Lucas and Dagwood were now up world and were

now just making sure the launch was secured at the pier at Pearl Harbour.  

The supply depot was not far from the pier and should take them too long to get what was needed and load it back

on the launch ready for the return trip back to the SeaQuest.

Lucas and Dagwood stood outside the depot for a minute, reading the sign on the outside.   Lucas had a list signed

by the Captain together with the cash to pay for it.   

Although the supply depot was on U.E.O. land, normally they were tendered out to other people to run and organize. 

 It meant that the U.E.O. made a sizable profit from the rental of premises and land from each of the depot's and 

had someone to blame other than themselves if something went wrong.  There were about 25 depots that were run in 

a such a fashion.

_"LENNY'S SUPPLY SHACK" was scrawled on the sign outside the run-down store._

Lucas walked inside and had to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness.  There didn't seem to be much lighting inside

the place.  Dagwood fell behind Lucas in step without saying a word.  He didn't like some of the unusual smells emanating 

from the store and so was a little nervous about entering.

"What do ya want?" came a voice from the middle of the room.   Lucas took a step closer, swallowing hard with his

own nervousness.  He didn't like the place any better than Dagwood did but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"Um, Sir, I have come for the supplies for the SeaQuest" Lucas stuttered, holding the sheet of paper out for the man

to see.

The man now came into view and Lucas and Dagwood took an unconscious step backwards.   The man was very

overweight with a cigar clenched between his yellow front teeth.  The man barely glanced at the piece of paper

before he tossed it back towards the teenager, landing on the floor before it could be caught.

"Don't got anything on that list so get out of here kid" the man said rudely.  He seemed more intent on staring at

Dagwood standing behind Lucas than anything else.  

"But you didn't even look at the list.  My Captain said he had already organized this stuff and all we had to do was

come and pick it up" Lucas said, feeling himself become a little riled at this man's complacent attitude.

"I don't need to look at it kid because nothing I got here is for sale to the likes of him" the man said abruptly.

Dagwood and Lucas were unaware that there was a smaller, thinner man standing at the very rear of the store 

listening to the whole conversation.  He too had a cigar in his mouth.  He was clad in jeans and a long sleeved,

work shirt with a large brimmed hat on his head.  He listened to the conversation very intently at the name 

SeaQuest being mentioned.  His eyes seemed to narrow at this name and his eyes took on a clouded appearance

as he thought back to just how much he had lost to the SeaQuest and Captain Bridger over two years ago.

"What do you mean because of him?" Lucas now demanded, genuinely angry now at the insinuations that the

man was making towards his friend.  He knew that the man was being racially biased against Dagwood.

Dagwood didn't seem to know what the man was talking about.  He didn't know why the man said what he 

said.

"I have got a million rules for this place kid.  I make them up as I go along.  And number one where you 

concerned states that I don't have to sell anything to anybody who is black, red or yellow and I think you

friend matches all of those colours don't you?" the store keeper now hissed back.

"But you just can't refuse to sell anything because something has different coloured skin." Lucas now shouted

back at the man, not realising the venom in his voice.  "Discrimination was beaten out a long time by the law

to stop people like you."

"This is my store boy, I can do what I damn well like" the man said and pulled the cigar out of his mouth

and puffed a plume of smoke directly into Lucas's face, making the boy gag and cough slightly at the foul

stench and choking ash.

"Lenny, the boy's right" came the voice from the back of the store.

Lucas watched as the figure came forward into the light.  At first, his brain seemed to send a message that he

had seen this man somewhere before, but he couldn't quite work out where.   

The man deliberately put his back to Lucas and Dagwood so that they couldn't see his facial expressions 

as he spoke to the store-keeper. "I say if the kid says he is from Sea Quest then that's alright by me.  Give

them what he needs" he added and then gave a discreet signal to the man that he had other plans in mind

once they left the store.

Lenny the store-keeper didn't know how Cobb knew the kid and the freak beside him but he was prepared

to do what he said and sell the goods.  He was wary enough of Cobb not to cross him.  He knew what had 

happened to other people that had crossed him.  Most of them were in the cold hard ground and those that

weren't had to work for the rest of their miserable lives, trying to repay the money that he demanded from him.

"Thanks Mister" Lucas said to the stranger for helping them out.  He didn't want the situation to get any uglier

than it already had but he didn't want to go back to the SeaQuest and tell the Captain that there had been

problems with his first solo supply run.  It would be the first and last he did for a long time otherwise.

"Your welcome kid" the man replied as he now faced the kid.  The man's voice seemed to stick in the back

of Lucas's mind with a distinct accent.  He was once again telling himself that he had seen or heard the man

before but he couldn't remember where.

"Do you know about the SeaQuest?" Lucas now asked curiously.

"Yeah, I have run into the SeaQuest before and her infamous Captain Bridger before in the past" Cobb answered,

using all of his efforts to hide the contempt and hatred that he felt for the man and all that he stood for. 

He didn't have a clue who the boy was or who the strange looking guy was beside him.  But this was the best

revenge opportunity that had come along since the gold-mine and he wasn't about to pass it up.

Lucas seemed to be happy enough with the explanation about how the guy knew about the SeaQuest and the

Captain.  He wanted to ask more questions about how he knew Bridger but was a little apprehensive to ask

and wanted to get out of the place as soon as possible.

Within twenty minutes, Lenny had gathered together the supplies that Bridger had on the list.  They were all

parcelled up neatly and Dagwood had already begun taking some of them outside to put in the launch.

Lucas gave the store-keeper the money but gave the man a dirty-look to still show his displeasure about how

the man had treated Dagwood.   He couldn't stand people who judged somebody by the colour of their skin.

"See you around kid" Cobb said with a very fake smile.  

"Yeah see ya" Lucas said as he exited the store and headed after Dagwood back to the launch.

As soon as they were gone, Lenny and Cobb got to talking.

"What do you want to do about them?" Lenny asked hating the idea that he had to sell his good to people

who looked like Dagwood.   If he had his way, they would all be exterminated or locked up for just looking

like that in public.  

"I don't know how the kid fits into the SeaQuest.  Seems only old enough to be out of high-school.  But, I am

going to send a message to the mighty Captain Bridger that he doesn't forget in a very long time.  Let's get

the sub warmed up.   I don't want them to get too far away before I fire" Cobb said as he hinted at his deadly

plot for Lucas and Dagwood.

Lucas and Dagwood had loaded the launch and had just started to head back when they contacted the SeaQuest.

"Hi Captain, we are on out way back now with the supplies" Lucas said almost too cheerfully.  

The falseness wasn't lost on the Captain though as he picked up on the tightness in Lucas's voice "What happened?"

"Nothing much.  Just had some jerk who tried to give us a hard time about Dagwood.  Wasn't going to sell

anything to us because of Dagwood's skin" Lucas said, making sure Bridger heard the harshness in the words as

he spoke.

"What made him sell them too you then?" Bridger asked, sighing silently in relief that nothing else had happened.

He too didn't like some people's attitudes about colours and races.   He didn't like the idea of Lucas being caught

up in something ugly like that where he was forced to defend his friend because of his racial background.

"Some other guy came from behind the shop and told him to sell them to us.   I think I have seen him somewhere

before but I just can't remember where.  He knew about the SeaQuest and he mentioned your name and about

you being Captain." Lucas said as he told of his meeting with Cobb.

"Who was this guy?" Bridger asked, a little curious about the mention of his name. 

"I don't know but he had on this funny slouched cowboy hat and a funny accented voice.  That's what is stuck

in my mind the most.  I am sure I have heard that voice somewhere before but I just can't put my finger on it."

Lucas answered.

"A funny voice huh?" Bridger repeated, trying to think himself of some one he knew matching Lucas's description.

"Yeah, like a long drawl in his voice.  Like they have in Australia.  Yeah that's it.   He sounded like someone

from Australia" Lucas now said, happy with himself for finally being able to pick the accent.

Bridger however frowned slightly as did Commander Ford who had been listening.  Both of them thought harder

about someone they knew with an Australian accent and a slouched hat.   Neither of them were happy with

the answer their minds came up with.  There was only one person both of them knew who matched such a

description and neither of them had any desire to run into him again in a hurry.    Frank Cobb both of them

mouthed silently together.

"Okay, well you better just get back here as soon as possible with those supplies then" Bridger now said, with

a noticeable hint of alarm in his voice that wasn't there before.   

Tony had been listening to the conversation too and saw the look exchanged between Ford and Bridger.  He

knew that something wasn't quite right with whoever this fellow was that Lucas had run into.   Tony had never

met Frank Cobb so he wasn't aware of who they had on their minds.

"What's wrong Captain?" Lucas asked, picking up on the slight change in voice from the Captain.

"Nothing, just want you to get back as soon as you can that's all.  It's great that you were able to get the 

supplies in the end.   I will see you shortly" he said and then terminated the call.  

Bridger sat at his station on the Bridge in silence for a few minutes whilst he thought worriedly of what might have 

happened if Frank Cobb knew who Lucas was.  Obviously he hadn't know who the teenager was, only that he 

came from the SeaQuest.  That association was bad enough.  He wouldn't have peace of mind until Lucas was safely

back aboard the boat.

While Lucas had been talking to the Captain, he had failed to notice the approach from behind the launch of an

unknown small submarine.  It was quite small so couldn't be seen easily at first until it was almost directly behind

the launch.

"I wonder what they are doing?" Lucas started to say before he looked at the instrument panel in front of him.

"Oh God" he then whispered and looked at Dagwood with a frightened expression.  He picked up the comm-link

and sent an urgent SOS message, hoping it would reach the SeaQuest in time……………………

"I have a target lock and ready to fire whenever you are Cobb" Lenny said as he loaded the submarine's one of

two torpedo tubes.  The shuttle launch wasn't overly big so one of their weapons should be able to hit it 

without too many problems.

"How hard do you want me to hit it?" he then asked, placing his finger on the red button in preparation for the

instruction to fire.

"MAY DAY MAYDAY, this is SeaQuest Shuttle Launch MR-7 calling for urgent assistance" Lucas said into 

the comm-link as he kept his eyes on the submarine behind them.

"What's wrong Lucas?" Bridger said in alarm as he answered the urgent call.  He could hear the fright in Lucas's

voice and knew that something was dreadfully wrong.

"You know those guys I talked to you about?" he now said worriedly.

"Yes what about them?"

"I think they are behind us in a submarine and they have a target lock on us……………"  Lucas said nervously,

unable to hide the emotion in his voice.

"Dagwood you better go back there and strap yourself in.  I think this is going to be a rough trip home" Lucas

now said.   "Put your life jacket on too" he instructed as he put his own on.

"Lucas, we will fight them off for you.  Don't panic just yet.   They won't hurt you" Bridger said.  

Miguel Ortiz was already onto the job and firing up the SeaQuest's own targeting systems and loading the 

torpedo tubes in readiness to fend off the submarine trying to attack Lucas and Dagwood.

Before Bridger could say anything else, there was a deafening sound though the shuttle, as the submarine's

torpedo struck the side of the launch.

"CAPTAIN WE ARE HIT, WE ARE HIT.  WE ARE GOING DOWN" Lucas shouted in utter terror as the

launch began taking on water and lurching to the side due to the sudden lost of pressure from the gaping hole

in her side.

"Lucas hang on, hang on, we are coming to rescue you" Bridger shouted back, his heart in his throat about

Lucas and Dagwood's fate in the crippled launch.

"You had better be quick Captain………………OH MY GOD, DAGWOOD, GET YOU HEAD DOWN"

Lucas said as he stopped in mid sentence.

"Lucas are you alright?" Bridger now shouted into the comm-link.  "Lucas?..............Lucas?......................

Dagwood can you hear me?"   There was nothing but silence on the end of the link.

MORE AUTHOR'S NOTE – HOPE YOU LIKE THIS SO FAR.  SORRY ABOUT TAKING SO LONG TO

UPDATE THIS ONE BUT I HAD ANOTHER IDEA AS I SAID THAT WASN'T QUITE WORKING SO I 

CHANGED THE WHOLE THING.  

DON'T MAKE ANY JOKES ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN PART BECAUSE US AUSSIES (INCLUDES ME) MIGHT GET OFFENDED AND NOT CONTINUE THIS STORY AT ALL.

YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO BEAR WITH ME AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PART AND BUY THE 

IDEA THAT LUCAS IS NAÏVE ABOUT THE WHOLE "GOING ABOARD THE SHUTTLE IDEA" WITH DAGWOOD.  HE PROBABLY NORMALLY WOULDN'T HAVE BELIEVED IT ANY OTHER DAY.  

BUT FOR THIS STORY YOU JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE.   I APOLOGIZE IF I DON'T GET THE PARTS 

ABOUT FRANK COBB CORRECT.  I AM GOING FROM MEMORY FOR MOST OF IT AND MAKING 

THE REST UP AS I GO.

MORE TO COME…………………………

JULES


	4. CHAPTER 4

**HEART AND SOUL   
  
**

"Broke apart and sunk like a stone," Lenny said with an evil grin as he looked across at Frank Cobb, his partner in crime.

"Yeah, they will be looking for bits of the kid and the freak for weeks to come," Frank Cobb responded.  "Come on let's get out of here before they turn their attention to us.

"Aye Aye Skip," Lenny said with another laugh and powered the small submarine into life and away from the impact zone.

"That will teach Bridger to mess with me," Frank said lastly as he gazed out of a side porthole as what remained of the shuttle launch slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean.

*******************

"Lucas can you read me," Bridger shouted down the radio speaker for the tenth time within a few minutes.   

Bridger was almost breaking out in a cold sweat he was so afraid of what might have happened to the one person he loved more than anybody else.   There was nothing on the other end but static.

"Mr Ortiz, get those W.S.K.R.S. out there now," Bridger ordered.  "I want to know about anything that moves out there.  Lieutenant Anderson get the Hyper-Reality Probe ready and start taking a look out there to see if you can see any sign of the MR-7 shuttle."

"Aye Sir," the two said in unison.

"Mr O'Neill alert any vessels in our immediate vicinity that there might be two people in the water that need rescuing and to contact us if they find any large parts of debris drifting on the ocean surface," Bridger ordered.

"On it now Sir," O'Neill replied and placed the headset back over his ears and carried out the command.

"Seaman Piccolo, I want four of the eight Sea Crabs ready for launch on my signals.  Tell them to take emergency rescue equipment and a first aid kit each," the Captain now said as he tried to run down the list in his head of things to do in such a crisis.    

"Come on man think," he now said harshly to himself as he slammed his hands down on the work station in front of him out of frustration.   They had done similar rescue missions over twenty times.  They could do it just fine then, so why now when it was somebody that meant the world to him that needed his help was his hands shaking like it was his first mission?

"Nathan I have got the Med Bay on high alert and ready for action when we pick them up," Kristen reported.

"Pick them up, damn it Kristen we don't even know where the hell they are," Bridger barked back at her and immediately regretted the tone of voice as he looked at the look on the doctor's face.   Thankfully for him she knew he was under immense pressure and stress at the moment and she would let his rude behaviour slide for now.

"I am sure they are alright Nathan," Kristen said trying her best to reassure him that Lucas would be okay.   Problem was that she too had heard the teenager's distress call over the radio and she too was worried about him and Dagwood.

******************************

A few minutes before the MR-7 shuttle broke into smaller pieces, Lucas had been quick enough with Dagwood's help to grab a rescue dinghy and attempt to make their escape through the overhead hatch.

Unfortunately though, the youth misjudged the force of the steel hatch door and was compensated for his haste by a smack on top of his head with the rim of the door.   He felt some immediate pain and could momentarily feel something wet and sticky running down the side of his face.   He assumed it was blood but with the imminent destruction of the shuttle, he didn't even have time to wipe it away.

Dagwood followed Lucas and did as his younger friend asked.   Within a few seconds, both of them were in the water trying to make it to the surface to inflate the rubber boat.  Dagwood had a large backpack with him that contained their emergency provisions.

The salt water and the pain in his head made Lucas feel a little light-headed as they kicked their legs to the top.    Dagwood had taken the folded rubber dinghy from the boy before he lost his tenuous grip on it and they were left to tread water.

Both Dagwood and Lucas now spluttered through the salty waves as they reached the surface.   That first breath of fresh air never tasted so good as it did right now.   Lucas's lungs felt like they were burning for that few seconds they had no air to breathe.

Dagwood used his muscle power to pull the cord on the dinghy which then quickly inflated and expanded on top of the water.   He threw the back pack into the bottom of the boat and was about to climb in when he looked across and saw his young friend was having a rough time of it.

The sun was shining strongly over head and the glare off the water didn't help Lucas's headache any.  The giddiness from the blow to his head was still there and he looked as though he was having difficulty staying afloat above the waves.  On one occasion his head had briefly submerged beneath the water, only to have the teenager quickly come up again, coughing and spluttering at the water he had gotten in his nose and mouth.

Dagwood now moved the boat closer to Lucas and quickly scrambled into it.   Leaning over the side, he used his arms to grab hold of the kid's jacket collar and start dragging him inside the boat.    Lucas was trying to help as much as possible, but the pain in his head and the sun over head was making him feel slightly nauseous and sick.

With one final large heave, Lucas came spilling into the rubber dingy, dripping wet and slightly bloodied from the wound on his head, but otherwise alive and okay.

Both Dagwood and Lucas were dripping wet from their forced swim.   For a few minutes

both of them lay on the bottom of the boat, trying to catch their breath a little and let their

nerves calm down after just what had occurred.

Dagwood was the first to make any noise or speak.  He looked over towards his young

friend and was worried about the blood that he saw streaking down one side of Lucas's

face. 

"Lucas okay?" came the question, as Dagwood put a hand on the teenager's back to see

if he was still alert and conscious.

"Yeah……... Yeah Dag, I am okay," Lucas finally answered.   Truth was he didn't know

whether he was okay or not.  At the moment the only things he knew was that he was 

now twenty pounds heavy from his dipping wet clothes.  The sun glare off the water was

burning and hurting his eyes if he looked at the water too long and he had a killer headache

from that damn hatch door.

"Lucas not look okay," Dagwood said honestly as his gaze was still fixated on the bloody

gash just inside the boy's hairline.

Lucas now sat up slightly and put a hand to where the pain in his head was coming from.

He pulled it away only to notice the blood that Dagwood was looking at.  The bleeding

had slowed to a trick and now his hair was drying into sticky clumps from the dried

blood on his scalp.

Lucas leaned over the side of the dinghy and firstly wet his hand in the salty water and then

began rubbing lightly at the side of his face in an attempt to wash away the stain.  He winced

at the sting that resulted from the salt.

The teenager knew as long as there was a visible mark on his face, then Dagwood would be consistently asking him if he was alright.  To the child-like man, anybody with blood must be hurt and they only thing either of them should be worried about right now was how to get out of their current situation.

"What do we do now Lucas?" Dagwood asked.   The man might have strength on his side as

a trait but unfortunately he was no leader.  Lucas would be relied on most to come up with

the decisions until they were rescued somehow.   At the moment even that was a feat in itself

due to the pain in his head stopping him from thinking rationally very much at all.

"I don't really know Dagwood," Lucas answered first and then rued the words as he looked

upon the larger man's down cast glance.   "I am sure they are already out there looking 

for us." he added but wasn't totally convinced by his own voice.

"For now, lets take a look at what is in the survival pack so that we know what we

have to use and what we don't.  Maybe there's something in there that can be used

to signal help," Lucas now said, trying to sound positive but feeling far from it.

Dagwood now smiled at his young friend and tipped the entire contents of the 

backpack onto the bottom of the rubber dinghy.   

"Dried food rations, some bottles of fresh drinking water, some first aid stuff,

some signalling flares, a compass, a battery operated flashlight," Lucas said as he 

rattled off each piece of equipment he picked up.    "And a hand-held transmitter," he shouted with delight instantly grabbing at it and opening it hope of contacting the SeaQuest.

His hope was short lived though.   The transmitter was like a very small lap-top

computer, with a three inch screen inside it so you could see whoever it was you

were contacting.   Somehow in their dash for the surface, a small amount of water

had gotten into the unit and at the moment there was only a blank blue screen

and a fuzzy static noise instead of a voice.    

"Let's leave it open in the sun for a few minutes, it might help to dry the water out

a little bit and then we might be able to contact somebody," Lucas explained to

Dagwood.  

He now played with the compass and as best he could tell they were headed in a 

easterly direction at drifting no faster than a wave at a time.   It still didn't help them

much because they had very little idea of where they were or where the SeaQuest

was.    There wasn't another vessel or craft to be seen on the water.  

Lucas now looked at the G.E.L.F.'s expressive face and knew that the man was 

somehow expecting more.    He didn't have the heart to tell him that it might be

hours, maybe a couple of days before they were rescued and he didn't even want

to contemplate the idea that they may not be rescued at all. 

"I tell you what Dagwood, you can be in charge of food and water rations, and I

will in charge of communications," Lucas announced, knowing it was the best

course of action in case the radio never worked at all.

"Lucas want a drink of water now?" Dagwood asked, seemingly happy with

his assigned task. 

"Not right now Dagwood.  I would really like a drink, but there are only a few 

bottles and we have to share them.  We can only take a drink when we really

need it okay?" he said, hoping the man would understand all of measures he was

taking to make sure they at least survived out on the water for awhile.   

"What can Dagwood do now Lucas?" came the question.

"Not much but sit back and wait Dag," Lucas replied in a dull tone.   He now lay

his head against the inflated edge of the boat and tried to shield his eyes from

the sun as much as possible.   

The headache was not only still there but now it was magnifying itself ten fold.    

Lucas had already taken a look through the first aid kit but there wasn't a pain killer to be found.  Just a few colour band-aids, some cloth bandages, a bottle of disinfectant and some cotton balls and gauze tape.

Lucas suggested to Dagwood to try and sleep a little to pass the time.    He didn't know

what else to suggest and with the pain exploding in his head, maybe the respite would

provide a little relief.

For the next half and hour, the rubber dinghy containing Lucas and Dagwood, drifted

on the open ocean with no real purpose other than gently bobbing up and down with

the action of the waves.

***********************************************

"Did you find anything yet Lieutenant?" Bridger asked as he stood behind Lonnie

Anderson and she manoeuvred the Hyper-Probe gloves.

"They only thing I can find Captain looks like parts of the launch after she broke

up.   I haven't spotted Lucas or Dagwood but hopefully they escaped.   From what

I can see the launch must have been hit initially which caused the explosion and

made it go careering off course.  Then it must have hit something real hard." she 

added, hoping her descriptions weren't too graphic for a man who was looking

for his teenage son.

"That's probably what happened while Lucas was talking to us on the SeaQuest,"

Bridger deducted. 

"Anything your way Mr Ortiz?" Bridger asked as he moved back around the Bridge

to the W.S.K.R.S. station.

"At first no Captain, but then I set the sensors to a higher resolution to try and pick

up any vapour trails that might lead us to who fired the shot at Lucas's shuttle,"

Ortiz explained.

"Did you pick up anything further with the higher resolution?" Bridger asked

"Yes and no.   Yes we did find a very find vapour trail from some sort of underwater

vessel.  But it was less than 100 parts per million.  Too low for us to try and track

for any distance and make a positive match.  I am sorry Captain," Ortiz added, hoping

he had better news for the Captain.

"What did the Coast Guard say Mr O'Neill?' Bridger asked, continuing to walk around

the circuit of work stations. 

"They have plane already in the air but they say a storm is headed to the area where

Lucas's launch went down later on this afternoon.  They say once the winds pick up

and the waves start getting too choppy out there they will have to call it back in until

after it has calmed down some." O'Neill reported.

"That's all we can ask for right now everyone," Bridger said, trying to keep up everyone's 

spirits including his own.

"Why would anybody want to hit Lucas's shuttle though Captain?" Tony Piccolo now

asked.   He wanted to punch the living heck out of the people responsible.  Lucas was

his room-mate and best friend.  Worst of all, he couldn't help but feel the pangs of guilt

that he had been the one to suggest and send Lucas and Dagwood on the supply run in the first place.

"I don't know Tony, but I aim to find out believe me," Bridger warned in an ominous

tone.  "But right now we have to concentrate our efforts on just finding them alive."

"You just give the orders Captain and we will back you up all the way," Piccolo

said, trying to give the man some sort of relief from the worry.

Back on board the rubber dinghy, the sun was starting to set a little.   Just on dusk.

Dagwood had been dozing on an off but was now awoken by some moaning from

his young friend.

Dagwood looked over to were Lucas was lying against the side of the boat.  The

teenager was laying all the way down now and was mumbling something incoherent

in his sleep.   The G.E.L.F. could see a fine sheen of sweat on the youth's brow.

When he went over to him and placed his hand on Lucas's forehead, Dagwood could

feel an unnatural heat.    A fever.   Not excessively high at the moment but enough

to add worry to their already plight.

"Lucas are you okay?" Dagwood asked in a worried tone, shaking the youth awake

slightly, worried that his friend may not wake up if the fever got too high.

"Water please," Lucas croaked through parched lips.  Dagwood immediately put one

of the bottles of water to the teenager's lips and allowed a trickle of water to slide

into his mouth and down his throat.

Lucas though it was the most delicious taste he had ever had.   It was cool and wet

but was short lived when the bottle was once again withdrawn and the heat of his

fever spread over him again.

Lucas moaned again slightly at the headache that was still very much present.  His

wince of pain was short lived though as he was startled by a crackling sound beside

him coming from the portable transmitter.

Lucas quickly sat up, although slightly dizzy and grabbed at the unit and hoping he

wasn't hearing or imaging things.  He was pleased to see some sort of picture now

appearing on the previously vacant blue screen.

"Mayday, Mayday, this is Lucas from the downed shuttle MR-7, do you read me,

over?" Lucas now spoke into the speaker on the radio.

Tim O'Neill who had been listening to something entirely different, suddenly gave

a whoop of delight and shouted to the Captain that he had a distress message of some sort

coming through.

"MR-7 this is the SeaQuest, do you copy?" Tim enquired back to the mystery voice

on the other end. 

"Tim, it's me Lucas," the teenager shouted with relief.  The loudest of his voice making

his head spin a little.  His headache wasn't getting any better at all and nor was the nauseousness from the movement of the waves on the water.

"Lucas, its us and I have got somebody here that is dying to talk to you," Tim said as

he handed Bridger the headset.

"Lucas?" Bridger asked, hardly believing that it was the teenager on the other end

of the radio signal.  "Are you alright? Where are you?  Is Dagwood with you? he

said, trying to ask a million different questions at once.

The rest of the crew were silently slapping each other on the back and smiling

at them having found their missing crew members.  The signal from Lucas was 

breaking up slightly at different intervals so they all now went totally silent to 

hear what the boy had to say.  

"Yes Dag……..wood is here ……………with me," the broken reply came back.

"Do you have any idea where you are at the moment?" Bridger asked, repeating 

his earlier problem.  Tim was busily trying to get a fix on Lucas's radio signal,

but it was difficult due to some interference continuing to make the signal fade

in and out.

"No, just in a survival raft on top of the ocean," Lucas said grimly.  "I found the

compass ……….in………..back pack……. says we are………..headed ……..

east," he now added, hoping that the crew was able to hear everything that he

was saying.   He could still pick up quite a lot of static on his end of the line too.

"Are you alright?" Kristen now asked as she tried to get an answer to the Captain's

first question.

"Lucas hurt," Dagwood replied for the teenager, getting a scowl in return.  The teenager

had wanted to explain what had happened with getting his family alarmed.  They were

already worried enough with them missing let alone being hurt as well.

Kristen was pleased that Dagwood had answered though instead of Lucas.   She knew

she would be getting a more honest and accurate answer from the man.   "How is he

hurt Dagwood?" she asked, directly her question to him this time.

"Got hit on head, bleeding but stopped now.  Lot of pain in head.   Very hot to touch,"

Dagwood said as he described the physical wound Lucas had as well as the symptoms

of the fever.

"You keep an eye on him for me Dagwood," Kristen responded, trying to tell the man

how best to help the less than well teenager.  Make sure he drinks plenty of water." she

added.

"Lucas say only drink water when need to because there is only some." Dagwood replied,

telling the doctor about what the youth had said to rationing the fresh water supply.

"Can you get a fix on them Tim?" Tony asked impatiently.

"The signal is breaking up too much," Tim answered as the signal once again broke up.

"Lucas……….Dagwood can you hear us.  This is the SeaQuest to the MR-7 rescue 

boat, do you hear me?   Come in Lucas?"   There was nothing on the other end but

silence once again.

Lucas tossed the transmitter across to the other side of the boat in frustration as he too

got nothing coming back but static.  He put his hands to his head and once again laid

down in an attempt to gain some relief from his throbbing headache.   

The only thing he had to be thankful for shortly was that the sun was going down and

the blasted sun would be out of his eyes soon.   There was nothing to do again but

wait.   Hopefully the transmitter might come back to life again.   He hoped the SeaQuest

had been able to get a fix on their position and were coming to rescue them.

"Sorry Captain, nothing," Tim said apologetically.

"At least they sound okay for now," Kristen commented, trying to remain positive about

the whole thing.  The best thing was they knew they were both alive.   Up until now

they hadn't even known that little piece of good news.

Captain Bridger now sat down in his chair in the centre of the Bridge, putting his hands

to his head and attempting to think of how they were going to find the floating boat and

her passengers.    A large burden had been lifted from his shoulders just knowing that

they were mostly okay.    Now all he had to figure out was how to bring them home again.

********************************************

"Hey Cobb, you know that kid that was on that sub?" Lenny now said, half completing 

the question.

"Yeah, he's dead so what about him," Cobb answered in an uninterested voice.

"I just found out who he is and I don't think he's quite dead yet," Lenny said putting

a little more action into his words.

"Why who says he's not dead?  We saw the launch blow up, well practically," Cobb

noted, knowing they hadn't quite seen the little pieces of the shuttle all over the floor.

"Well because I am on the U.E.O. base and my communications system is the same as

theirs.  Right now I am seeing a message displayed to all water craft and boats

in the immediate area to keep their eyes peeled for a downed shuttle launch and it's missing crew members," Lenny now said as he read what was written on the screen.

"And who is he supposed to be?" Cobb wondered, wanting to know why he should

regard the teenager to be of any important.  He knew the kid came from the SeaQuest.

Cobb had waiting for years for revenge against her Captain Bridger.  In blowing up

the supply launch with the kid on board, he thought he would have already achieved

that to a certain degree.

"Take a look," Lenny said, turning the screen so Cobb could view it.  At the moment

he was gazing at a personnel file that he just was able to access due to his connections.

The U.E.O. would have a fit if they knew just how much classified information he

had because he was located on the base, but what they didn't know couldn't hurt him.

Cobb's mouth was now agape so that the cigar that had been clenched through his teeth

now fell to the ground.  The man could scarcely believe what he was looking at.

NAME OF CREW MEMBER :   LUCAS WOLENCZAK

AGE:    17 years

HAIR :   BLONDE

EYES:    BLUE

SKILLS:    COMPUTERS, ENGINEERING, DATA SYSTEM DESIGN

CURRENT POSITION:    CHIEF SYSTEM ANALYSER

CURRENT LOCATION:    SEAQUEST DSV

NEXT OF KIN:     CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE BRIDGER

"God damn it, I wish I had of known," Cobb said angrily as he kicked at a rubbish

bin near his foot.   Somehow the kid was related to the one man he hated all these

years.  They had different names he could see.  But Bridger was listed as the boy's

next of kin.  He must mean something to Bridger.   And looking at the age of the

kid, he probably meant a great deal.

Cobb had come to know how much the common man, woman and child meant

when he had come snooping around his gold mining operation and eventually closed

it down, having him charged and sent to jail afterwards.

"Pity we let him go from here.    He might have been worth something," Lenny said

as a cruel notion popped into the man's head about how to make some additional

cash.   Being related to the flag ship of the U.E.O., the kid had to be worth a great

deal.                        

"And here we were blowing them up to kingdom come," Cobb said as he inwardly kicked

himself for not being more astute.    

"But this here says he is still alive out there somewhere," Lenny said to him. "The

message states that they are looking for two people, a teenage boy and a G.E. L.F.,

that freak with the patterned skin."

"They must have escaped from the explosion on the launch then," Cobb deduced

rationally.  Maybe they weren't quite licked yet.

"Does it say where he, I mean they might be?" Cobb asked with anticipation.   He didn't

really care if they found the other fellow.  The coloured man didn't mean as much to

him or Captain Bridger as the blonde haired boy would.

"No but it gives a large area where they are looking.  It says that a brief message was

received about two hours ago giving them an easterly direction to use," Lenny replied.

Cobb quickly got out a map of the seas surrounding the U.E.O. base.   He looked

at the roughly plotted area given in the message and marked them crudely onto the map

in front of him.

"If they are heading east, then they will end up somewhere around here," Cobb said

pointing to the area.    

"Come on get your gear together, we're going out looking. We can take a dinghy in

the back of the vehicle.  We might need to look at sea and then on land if they come

ashore anywhere," Cobb announced as he started putting thoughts in his head about

what he was going to do with Lucas when he finally caught up with him.

"How much are we going to ask Bridger for him?" Lenny asked as dollar signs lit

up in his eyes at how much they might make in ransom.

"Oh I won't be just asking dear old Captain Bridger for money to return the kid,"  
Cobb said with an evil chuckle.   "Believe me, Bridger will need to come up with

something worth a whole lot more than money to make up for all of the years I 

spent in jail because of him and the money I lost in the gold mine."

********************************************************

Lucas and Dagwood were having enough trouble of their own at the moment to be

worrying about who might be chasing after them.

With sunset now complete and day giving way to night, so to that the earlier calmness

of the waves had given over to roughness and gusty winds.

At first there had been some wind blowing across the boat, making things a whole

lot cooler all of a sudden, but nothing to be overly concerned about at that stage.

Now, only half a hour later, the winds were much more gustier and the seas had now

turned into a very heavy swell.   Some of the waves were spilling over into the rubber

dinghy.

Lucas and Dagwood were both on their hands and knees trying to bucket the water 

out with their hands and trying to keep their meagre supplies from falling over board.

Both of the now were dripping wet again as the storm picked up pace and rain began

falling steadily.     Lucas couldn't think of a worse position to be in right now than

in a stormy night in nothing but a flimsy rubber boat for protection.

The water coming into the boat was now in greater volumes and the two of them

were struggling to keep the boat from sinking from the added weight.   

Without so much as a warning, a very harsh gust of wind now blew at the side of

the boat and almost causing it to capsize.     

Lucas knew  they wouldn't be able to take much more pounding from the water

than that.    

"Dagwood hold onto the side of the boat," Lucas shouted over the howling wind.

At the moment, his fever and headache all gave way to the very real fear that they

were about to be tossed back into the sea and drown.

"What Lucas?" Dagwood shouted back, not quite hearing what the teenager was

saying, but seeing the frightened look on his face.   Dagwood had grabbed whatever

food and water and equipment he could gather in a hurry and stuffed them into the

backpack which was slung over his shoulder.   Some of the food rations had

already blown overboard into the waves.

"Hold on………………." was the only words Lucas managed to get out before 

he felt the boat begin lifting upwards from a fresh gust of wind.

The boat was hit yet again by wind and this time the battle was lot.  

Lucas and Dagwood both gave cries of fright when the boat lifted off the surface

of the water and now capsized completely………………………

TO BE CONTINUED.

Yet another updated story for you – this story has quite a long way to go yet.

The next part will be a lot more involvement from Frank Cobb and Lenny as well

as the rest of the SeaQuest gang.

Please keep reading and reviewing………………..

JULES


End file.
